Self-sealing container



March 14, 1961 c. w. HEPPENSTALL 2,974,833

SELF-SEALING CONTAINER Filed Jan. 6, 1958 INVENTOR 0%?455 IMAIEPPEAASWZL,

BY (gm-1 ATTORNEYS United States Patent SELF-SEALING CONTAINER Charles W. Heppenstall, Box 2325 Delray Beach, Fla. Filed Jan. 6, 1958, Ser. No. 707,275

1 Claim. (Cl. 222-190) This invention relates to a self-sealing container which is particularly well suited for dispensing deliquescent materials and more particularly is directed towards a selfsealing container which is an improvement upon the container disclosed in my prior Patent 2,797,026.

In my prior patent there is disclosed a container which is particularly well suited for dispensing salt and the like, the container having an apertured cap with a body of hygroscopic material hereinafter called a hygroscopic button disposed within the cap. There is provided a conical valve seat with a ball valve disposed therein which normally seals 015? the contents of the container. It has been found that while such a container is a vast improvement upon prior art devices designed to accomplish the same result, it did not completely seal ofi the contents in the most efifective manner.

The present invention provides a self-sealing dispenser for deliquescent and other materials in which there is provided a plurality of sealing means so that the material disposed within the container will be completely closed off from the outside atmosphere. The container is provided an apertured cap and there is an embossed portion on the inside of the cap surrounding this aperture. This embossed portion acts as an ring seal. A hygroscopic button having an aperture therethru is disposed inside the cap and engages the embossed rim portion in the cap. A valve seat having a flanged rim engages a shoulder in the cap and has a groove surrounding the conical valve seat portion which receives the lower edge of the hygroscopic button. A ball valve which may, if desired, be made of hygroscopic material is disposed within the valve seat to provide means for closing the container when the dispenser is in upright position. The threads on the container are of greater width than the threads on the cap so that in screwing the cap down on the container the valve seat is urged into firm engagement with the lower edge of the hygroscopic button and against the shoulder in the cap and the valve seat is engaged firmly with the upper edge of the container. In this manner an efiective seal is provided between the various parts. I

An object of the present invention is to provide a container for deliquescent and other materials in which all of the parts are sealed tightly against each other so that moisture and foreign materials are excluded from the container.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the container,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the interior of the container cap, and

Figure 3 is a plan view of the valve seat.

Referring now more specifically to the drawing when like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, there is shown at 1 a container which may be "are made of glass or other suitable material and this con tainer is provided with a reduced neck portion having threads 2 thereon. The threads 2 may be replaced by other retaining means such as a ring or groove. These threads are adapted to cooperate with the threads 3 disposed on the inner peripheral edge portion of the cap 4. The threads 2 extend over the greater length of the container 1 than the threads 3 on the cap portion 4 for a purpose which will become more fully apparent herein- Adjacent the end of the threads 3 in the cap 4 there is provided a shoulder 5 which extends around the inner periphery of the cap as more clearly shown in Figure 2. A central aperture 6 is provided in the cap and there is an embossed portion 7 extending around the inner periphery of the aperture.

Within the cap member 4 there is provided a discshaped element 8 of hygroscopic material such as, for example, calcium chloride, calcium sulphate, calcium silicate, diatomite or silicagel. This hygroscopic button is provided with an aperture extending therethru and this aperture is normally in register with the aperture 6 in the cap 4. A valve seat is provided and this valve seat has a conical central portion 9 and a flanged rim 10. Within the conical portion 9 there is a grooved portion forming a shoulder 11. This grooved portion forms a circular recess which receives the lower peripheral edge portion of the hygroscopic button 8. The flanged mm 10 of the valve seat rests firmly on the upper edge of the container. A ball valve 12 is normally disposed over the aperture in the valve seat to seal ofi the contents of the container from the atmosphere.

As shown in Figure 1 the parts are assembled with the hygroscopic button engaging the embossed portion 7 on the cap with the lower edge of the block resting in the circumferential groove 11 in the valve seat. By screwing down the cap on the container the hygroscopic button is firmly wedged between the cap and the valve seat and the peripheral edge of the valve seat is retained between the upper edge of the container and the shoulder 5.

The cap and valve seat may be made of a plastic such as polyethylene or glass or other material and the ball valve 12 may be made of a similar material or may, if desired, be made of hygroscopic material such as Ameroid or a cellulose acetate.

The lower surface of the hygroscopic button is provided with a V-shaped groove adjacent the aperture. This groove prevents the ball valve from blocking the aperture in the hygroscopic button when the container is inverted.

It can be seen that the present invention provides a means whereby moisture and foreign materials are completely excluded from the contents of the container. The parts are in tight sealing engagement with one another and yet the container parts may be readily disassembled for replacement or cleaning.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claim. What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A dispenser comprising a container, a cap for said container having a central dispensing aperture therein, an internal embossed portion surrounding the aperture in said cap, a valve seat having a central aperture, an intermediate circular shoulder portion and a peripheral flange, a ball valve normally seated over the central aperture in said valve seat, a hygroscopic element having a bore therethrough, said hygroscopic element being seated on the circular shoulder portion of said valve seat, the peripheral flange on said valve seat resting on the upper edge of said container, interengaging threads on said container and cap for forcing said hygroscopic element rounding the aperture and by the engagement of the 7 against said internal embossed portion of said cap in peripheral flange on the valve seat between the consealing engagement therewith, the circular shoulder portainer and cap.

.tion of the valve seat being 'in sealing engagement with References Cited in the file of this Patent the hygroscopic element and aligning the bore in the 5 hygroscopic element With the central aperture in the cap, UNITED STATES PATENTS the bore in the hygroscopic element being of smaller 2,366,963 Goldbert Jan. 9, 1945 diameter than the aperture in the cap, the cap and con- 2,605,024 Clark July 29, 1952 tainer being sealed by the engagement of the hygro- 2,797,026 Heppenstall June 25, 1957 scopic element and the embossed portion of the cap sur- 10 2,801,029 Bretz July 30, 1957 

